Heritage
by ukyou1
Summary: Kagome's heritage has some interesting repercussions. No citrus yet, but there will be some later.
1. Prologue

AN: This fic will actually have my first attempts at real lemons, so if you know me personally please, oh please turn back now. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.

Prologue

Kagome was grumping quietly while packing an inordinately large bag. Kagome had accepted that it was her duty to help retrieve all of the Shikon shards. However, it had been quite a battle convincing Inuyasha that she need to go home to pack as well as to let her family know what was going on. Kagome was somehow relieved that her mother had agreed with her decision, as long as Kagome tried to keep up with her school work. Kagome had no intention of slacking off with her school work. She was one of those people that need the recognition that comes with doing something well and school had always been a place where Kagome's extra efforts allowed her to shine.

"Sis?" Sota stuck his head hesitantly into Kagome's room. "So you are going with Inuyasha?"

"Yep. I'm going to the past to take Shikon shards from powerful demons, accompanied by an obnoxious half demon who hates me, without any modern conveniences." Kagome replied flippantly.

At Inuyasha's name Sota visually perked up. "So that guy is half demon dog?" Sota wiggled his index fingers above his head. Whether to mimic Inuyasha's ears or demon horns Kagome was not sure.

With a sigh, Kagome started packing the school books she felt she would need into her bag. "Yes he is part demon dog."

"So does he act like a dog sometimes?

"I would not know" Kagome responded dryly.

"Oh." Sota stood in the door way shifting his weight side to side for a few seconds and watched Kagome pack her bag. "I was just thinking about something we just learned about in my life science class."

"What was that?" Kagome asked distractedly.

"Well, I was just watching a show about dogs, and it said that when a female reaches sexual maturity and goes into heat, the male dogs within smelling range will feel a strong desire to find and mate with that female." Kagome looked up at her **little brother in horror. "I just thought it might be awkward." He petered out.**

"Sota!" Kagome screeched. "You are way too young to be having such perverted thoughts!" Kagome stormed up to her brother with her fists clenched at her sides. "I do not want to ever hear you suggest something like that again! Now** get out!!"**

Sota immediately went scurrying from Kagome's room. With a loud huff, Kagome went back to packing her bag. However, after a few minutes she considered Sota's question. She had already decided that there would always be an "important" test at one time of the month. Looking over her school curriculum, Kagome decided just incase, she would always have important tests twice a month.


	2. Chapter 1: How I spent my summer vacati...

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of his companions. I would however like to own the figurines.

Chapter 1

How I spent my summer break

Kagome shoved an extremely large (even by her standards) bag out of the bone eaters well. Since it was summer break this was going to be her longest stay in the Sengoku period. Normally her break only lasted a month; however, Kagome had noticed that when she was in the past she seemed to get two days for every one in her time period. She had noticed this the first time she fell down the well. While she had been in the Sengoku period for two days, when she returned home it was only the late afternoon of the day she had left. Her family had not even called the police yet. However, when Kagome was in her period, time seemed to pass equally. When she spent three days in her time, three days also passed in Inuyasha's time. It did not make sense, but neither did falling into a well and ending up in the past. 

Kagome was not particularly looking forward to two whole months without modern conveniences. Especially when it came to her monthly period, thought Kagome with a grimace. But, she was as prepared as she could be and she would endure. Thinking along those lines, Kagome had to laugh at herself for how in the past she had avoided being around Inuyasha during her fertile time of the month. She had realized the absurdity of it shortly after Sango had joined their group. Kagome was pretty positive that Sango was normal as far as ovulating was concerned and Inuyasha did not seem to react to her in the slightest. He neither avoiding her nor acted like Miroku. With a shake of her head Kagome lifted her huge bag onto her shoulders.

**"Kaagoomeeee!!" A young kitsune excitedly flew into Kagome's waiting arms. "You were gone for sooo long." Shippo whined.**

Kagome could only laugh a bit at Shippo's exuberant greeting. "I was only gone 9 days. I had 5 days of finals and then needed to spend some time with my family before coming back."

"I wish I could go with you." Shippo pouted. "Why is it that only Inuyasha seems to be able to pass through the well?"

A sly smile graced Kagome's face. "I actually have had a few thoughts on that matter. I seem to always be able to return home through the well. However, I am only able to come to this time when I have part of the Shikon with me. I wondered for quite awhile why it was linked to this time. Since Inuyasha is the only other person who can travel through the well so far, it stands to reason that Inuyasha is the link." Kagome looked at Shippo to confirm that he was listening and seemed very confused. Anticipating his question as to why Inuyasha was the link, Kagome's smile widened. "Remember Myoga's story from when he and Kirara went into the cave Midoriko had her final battle and made the Shikon Jewel. (episode 26 of the anime) When they where attacked by the youkai at first they thought they saw Midoriko saving them, but then it turned out to be Inuyasha." Kagome passed to let Shippo's suspense build. 

"Well, so they thought Inuyasha was some Miko from the past." Shippo grumped, not getting what was so funny to Kagome.

"Well what if he was?" Shippo just looked at Kagome blankly so she elaborated. "What if Inuyasha is the reincarnation of Midoriko?"

"You think Inuyasha is the reincarnation of a Miko?!" Shippo sputtered.

** "Yup. Maybe so near her final resting place the bit of Inuyasha's soul that was her became apparent. It may even be the reason why Inuyasha feels such a need to obtain the Shikon since there has been many time he could have implanted it into himself, and yet he did not. Being her reincarnation may also explain why he kills other youkai with such zeal." Kagome's smile almost split her face. "Imagine how Miroku would act if he realized that Inuyasha was a woman reborn."**

Shippo fell off Kagome's shoulder laughing as the image of Miroku asking Inuyasha to "bear his child" while trying to fondle Inuyasha's butt. Kagome joined in whole heartedly rolling on the ground with laughter till tears leaked from her eyes.

"Can you imagine the carnage?" She barely sputtered out. Kagome's giggles quieted as a shadow rested on her.

"What is so damn funny?" Inuyasha demanded.

Kagome and Shippo looked up at Inuyasha and where instantly assailed by the image of Inuyasha in a very feminine Kimono. Hysterical laughter overtook them.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" Inuyasha demanded with his teeth bared. Seeing that their laughter showed no signs of ceasing since every time they looked up new fits of giggles would over take them he yelled again a bit louder. "Idiots! We need to get moving. There are Shikon shards to find."

"Oh calm down Inuyasha" Kagome admonished. "We will have 2 whole months to search before I will need to return home again."

At her statement Inuyasha's ears perked forward. Shippo leaped into the now standing Kagome's arms. "This will be so great." Shippo yelled in excitement.

"You swear that there will be no going home for 2 months no matter what?" Inuyasha asked solemnly.

"Short of needing medical supplies, I will not go home for 2 whole months" Kagome responded with a smile and a wink.

At this time Miroku walked up behind Inuyasha. "Sango, Kirara and I are ready, are you ready?" He questioned.

Seeing Miroku and Inuyasha together caused all new fits of laughter to assail Shippo and Kagome. Miroku and Inuyasha just sweat drop as they stared off in wonder at the two quivering masses on the ground.

This was definitely going to be an interesting 2 months.


	3. chapter 2: Reasons

Disclaimer: I do own Inu-Yasha. Come on. Sue me, I know you want to. (Insane laughter fills the room) Well fine, I don't own him or any of his friends. However, I do have him (grabs confused husband and jams dog ears on his head.) 

AN: In manga #4 Kagome mentions having to go to summer school. I have placed this story in the following year. So she is now 16 and has been helping Inu-Yasha for almost two years. However, this is essentially an AU since I am obviously diverting from Rumiko's story line.

Heritage

Chapter 2

Reasons

It was late afternoon and Kagome was pedaling her bike with Shippo and Kirara in the front basket and her large pack strapped on the back, through a shady grove of trees at a slow pace so that Sango and Miroku could easily keep up. For the past week and a half they had been traveling towards an area that Myoga said was currently being terrorized by a flea demon named Happosai, which had gotten a hold of a Shikon shard. They expected to be in its realm any day now and they were all getting a bit antsy in anticipation of retrieving another shard. While Kagome was missing some of her modern conveniences, she was enjoying that she did not feel the burden of needing to hurry up so she could return home.

"We'll stay here tonight," Inuyasha stated as they entered a nice clearing with the sound of a nearby stream permeating the quiet forest. It was a bit earlier than the time they usually stopped, but it made sense to stop early since tomorrow they would probably face the demon and it was better to be well rested. 

"Awe, I like it better when there is a house Miroku can exorcize." Shippo whined winning himself a menacing glare from Inuyasha. With an "eep" Shippo jumped into Kagome's arms for protection.

Secretly, Kagome agreed with Shippo, however Inuyasha always took it personally if she was to say anything of the sort. So instead she decided to help Shippo get out of the range of Inuyasha's ire. "Shippo, why don't you go collect some wood?"

"Sure thing, Kagome!" Shippo chirped before running off into the surrounding woods. Glad to escape any forthcoming lumps from a certain annoyed dog demon. 

Shippo's departure set everyone else into their well-rehearsed camp routine. Inuyasha went hunting for small game, Miroku left to retrieve some water as well as any edible plants he might find on the way, Sango set up the camp and prepared an area for the fire, and Kagome dug thru her bag for some of the various dry foods she carried. They all went to their tasks with a friendly silence born from many nights traveling. As soon as Inuyasha had left, Shippo returned with some wood which he set up for Kagome to ignite with her "magical" lighter. Inuyasha returned with two already cleaned rabbit for their dinner that Kagome seasoned with a few spices from her pack and roasted. 

After a quiet meal everyone began to settle down for the night and Kagome pulled a rather thick stack of papers from her pack and settled down where she could catch the light from the fire. Since they had stopped early tonight, she felt she could finally spend some time studying. "Kagome, what are those?" The ever curious Kitsune asked

"These are all my tests from the past two years." Kagome replied. While my books are too heavy to carry around on long trips, I decided to bring along my past tests since they have a few examples of most of the stuff I am supposed to know.

"These are tests?" Shippo asked as he held one upside down, vainly trying to read it. 

Kagome turned the paper right side up for Shippo. "Well some of the writing has changed over the past few hundred years. You could probably recognize the Kanji and maybe even most of the Hiragana, but, I'm sure the Katakana is almost completely foreign. Shippo had a face that spoke of awe and incomprehension. 

"What do these marks in red mean?" questioned Miroku who was also very interested in Kagome's fabled tests.

"These marks on the top of the pages tell whether I passed with high marks, just barely passed, or failed miserably." As she spoke, Kagome pulled out examples from her stack of tests. In the beginning of her stack there was mostly test showing high marks, in the middle the majority showed that she barely passed, and by the end of her stack most of the test showed failure.

Sango had noticed the sag in Kagome's shoulders when she showed the tests in which she had failed. "It must be hard to find time for your period when you spend so much of it here fighting youkai." 

Kagome smiled a bit sadly. "Yes, it seems I need to spend more and more time here as we need to range farther out to find more shards. I barely passed my exams this year and almost had to repeat a year. Last year I took summer school to try to catch up. However, this year I decided to try to do as much shard searching as possible during the summer in hopes that then I will be able to go to school more later."

Shippo jumped onto Kagome's shoulder. "But Kagome…" he whined. "I thought you did not like taking tests."

With a sigh, Kagome followed the script for whenever the subject of her tests came up. "I need to take the tests so I can graduate."

As if on cue Shippo asked plaintively, "Why? Why don't you just live here with us?" Then, looking meaningfully at Inuyasha, who happened to be resting on a nearby tree branch, feigning disinterest. "You could make a life here."

Kagome blushed at the implications. And then without really thinking about it she burst out, "I couldn't get married without finishing high school!!" Her blush became an even more furious red as she realized what she had just yelled. Shippo, Miroku, and Sango dived on this new admission like starving animals for a fresh cut of prime meat. Suddenly they were all right in Kagome's face and she felt just a bit claustrophobic.

Sango was the first to speak. "You mean you must take these test and finish this high school before you are allowed to marry?"

Kagome was trying to slowly back away from her rabid friends. "Uh… Well you could say that. But..."

"You hear that Inuyasha?" Miroku yelled. "She is taking these tests so that she can bear your children with honor."

"AAAH!" Was all Kagome could manage at first. Her arms where waving madly, so that they appeared as only blurs. "That was not what I said!" Frantically she whirled Miroku away from Inuyasha. Kagome thought she was going to die of heat exhaustion from her blush when she briefly caught Inuyasha's eye. *If I don't die of embarrassment, I'm going to kill them all.* She thought with venom.

"Feh." Inuyasha snorted as he jumped down from the tree. "I'm not interested in Kagome bearing my child." *yet* he added silently. "I'm interested in finding shards, which I can't do when she is on the other side of the well." Inuyasha was just barely able to stop himself from blushing at Miroku's statement. The truth was he did not want Kagome to go to her time for he always feared she would find a human boy there to love and leave him. The only reason he had not asked Kagome to be his bride was that he had sworn to help Kikyo find rest and to sever the fate of the Shikon jewel (manga 10). Inuyasha was violently torn from his musing as a "sit" sent him crashing to the earth. Growling he looked up to see Kagome looking at him with a mixture of embarrassment and murder in her eyes. Cursing at the other three members of the group who now wore expression that said "won't he ever learn" Inuyasha pulled himself off the ground and pick up one of Kagome's _tests. *Why did she fell the need to take these test?* he wondered to himself. *She had said she wanted to stay with me forever even after she heard me say that I would always protect Kikyo* (Manga 18, anime 48)_

Inuyasha's ears perked up as Shippo voiced his question. "Why does it matter if you finish school in your time if you live here?" He asked innocently.

*Why indeed?* Kagome thought. In this time girls younger than her where already getting married and bearing children. Deep down she knew the reason she kept at her school work was the silent fear that one day Inuyasha would leave her, giving her very few reasons to stay in such a dangerous time. However instead of voicing her fears Kagome just responded with "it matters to me." Glaring menacingly at everyone she snatched her tests back and stalked over to the other side of the fire. "I will finish school and there will be no questioning of that fact." That said, she pointedly ignored everyone and instead focused her glare on the objects that had caused such an embarrassing conversation.

The rest of the group just looked at Kagome with bemused fascination for a bit before they settled down for the night. Not a one of them had yet been able to figure out Kagome and it did not seem like they were going to figure her out tonight. She was a strange one indeed. 


	4. Chapter 3 History

Disclaimer:  I own nothing and no one.  

AN:  Sorry this took so long Youkai invaded my computer and killed both of my hard drives causing me to lose all of my fanfiction stuff so all of my fics have gotten delayed.  This one got updated first since I had to do the least back tracking.  I'm sorry to those wanting for me to update my other 2 fics.  I will hopefully get back on track for those ones soon.

Heritage

Chapter 3

History

After a quiet night and an eventless morning of cautious traveling, the seekers of the Shikon shards found themselves near a small provincial town.  From what they could see from their vantage point, it seemed to be a tidy town.  It was not a well off or rich town, but, neither was it run down.  The town also showed no signs of a recent demon attack.  There was not an abundance of fresh graves or visible destruction from recent battle.  Regardless, it was by a mutual, unspoken accent that they headed into the town in search of possible rumors of a demon causing more than the usual trouble.

Once in the town it became apparent to Kagome that something was a bit askew.  When Kagome had first began searching for the Shikon shards, it had taken her awhile to get used to the fact that most of the people in the Sengoku period did not get to bathe as often as modern people did.  For some reason in this town it seemed that the women bathed even less.  Kagome had to force herself to not wrinkle her nose at the smell that seemed to leak out of the women's kimonos as she would try to question them.  She could only wonder how Inuyasha was faring.  A quick glance around revealed him to be nowhere in sight.

Sango noticed Kagome's searching eyes and guessed correctly that she was looking for Inuyasha.  "I think he went to try to sniff out some clue as to why the town's folk are acting so strangely."  She whispered while trying to restrain her smirk as yet another girl flat out refused to talk with Miroku.

That was really what was strange about this town.  Usually when a demon huntress and a monk entered into a town in search of youkai, everyone was very friendly and tried to be helpful.  At times some townsfolk would become uneasy with the presence of Inuyasha or Shippo because of their youkai heritage.  There were even time Kagome was shunned since she dressed so differently then women and mikos did during that time.  Still, in all of those instances, the town would still at least share any information that could help them locate and destroy the demon they were hunting.  In this town everyone seemed to clam up as soon as they started asking about a flea demon which had recently been causing trouble.  Even Miroku could not learn anything, let alone find a home willing to offer hospitality in exchange for an exorcism.

After a frustrating afternoon, Inuyasha hollered out in an annoyed voice tinged with a bit of malice that they should leave the town and find a suitable place to camp.  While it was still plenty of time to travel before they truly need to set up camp, the town had acted too strangely for them to leave it so soon.  With that thought, the group silently left the town.  

Once outside of the town, Inuyasha literally brushed the dust of the town off with an audible "feh."

Taking Inuyasha's "feh" as a break in their silence, Shippo could contain himself no longer.  "What was wrong with those people?"  Shippo asked as both hurt and confusion tried to dominate his face.  "We were just trying to learn if a youkai was bothering them and would have taken care of it for them."

Before Inuyasha could get off some inane remark about weak humans or them not trusting hanyous, Kagome replied with a calming voice.  "Well Shippo, it could be that the demon has taken a hostage and the townsfolk fear to speak to us or even welcome us into their town for fear that the demon would harm the hostage."  Shippo's eyes shone with understanding.

"That must be it," Miroku burst out.  "The despicable demon must have taken the village chiefs daughter or even more likely the precious daughter of the local lord.  The poor hime is probably praying that we will sense her distress even though the villagers are too afraid to risk her safety by asking for our aid."  Miroku continued to prattle on about the supposed hostage's beauty and the possibly high reward for her rescue with his fist clutched out in front of him and his eyes watering with unshed tears at her predicament.  That was until Miroku heard the subtle shift in Sango's stance as she prepared to try to knock some sense into him with her boomerang.  For the sake of self-preservation Miroku decided to change the subject.  "This looks like a good place to stop."  He announced, relieved that he had avoided receiving a new lump.  

Immediately everyone went into their well rehearsed roles and set up camp.  With a few hours till evening still left, each member of the group occupied themselves while silently musing over the town.  Kirara was grooming herself, Sango sharpening her boomerang, Miroku, meditating, Kagome studying her past tests, Shippo was gleefully running around practicing hunting skills, and Inuyasha was just sitting on a low branch of a tree keeping one eye on everyone while also scanning for anything else that might appear on the horizon.  It was not long before the lack of active shard hunting got to him.  "So did any of you notice anything strange besides the fact that the townsfolk did not want to talk to us."  Inuyasha was practically growling with frustration since he always preferred it when everything was out in the open.

Looking up from her studies, Kagome sighed knowing that Inuyasha had actually been very patient and he was just a few moments from starting to pace annoyingly.  With a slightly annoyed tone in her voice, Kagome responded, "the only other strange thing I noticed was that the women needed to take a bath."

Both Sango and Miroku looked up in surprise that Kagome would have said anything so negative about the townsfolk.  Sango spoke up to defend the slighted women, "their faces and hands seemed clean enough."  Miroku nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but they smelled," chimed in Shippo as he walked towards Kagome's pack.  Sango's and Miroku's eyes followed him as he started digging through the bag in search of the crayons and paper Kagome usually brought for him.  His muffled voice could be heard from within.  "I'm surprised a lecherous monk such as you would not have noticed."  Shippo then pulled out a small brown box and opened it to see what was inside.  "Hey Kagome!  What are these?"  

Kagome turned to look at Shippo and instantly recognized the box he held.  "Oh, those are photos I brought since this next school year I will need to put together a family history presentation for my advanced English class.  I figured it would be something nice to work on if I started feeling a bit homesick."

"What amazing portraits!"  Sango exclaimed while carefully picking up one of the photos that where crammed into the box.

Miroku was looking in amazement as well.  "To travel so casually with such family treasures, I will never understand your time Kagome."

Kagome rubbed the back of her head a bit embarrassed at her friends' amazement at yet another thing she took for granted.  "They are actually just copies since I did not want to risk the originals."  Inuyasha and even Kirara came over to look at the photos amazed by the full color and how life like each photo was.

"Who is the youkai?"  Inuyasha asked roughly, holding out a picture of a slim blond wearing a long, loose, brightly colored dress and with flowers weaved thru her hair.

Kagome leaned forward to get a better look at the picture and laughed, "That is not a youkai.  That is my grandma when she was young."  Everyone crowded closer to see the picture better so Kagome continued to tell them about her grandma.  "She was an American.  Blond hair and blue eyes are actually quite common there.  She is dressed strangely because she was an old hippie."

"America?"  Shippo questioned.

Kagome sighed, *hopefully they will not demand too much geography and history or future telling as it may be* she thought.  "America is a land to the West that Japan in my time does much trading with."  She explained hoping that would be enough of an explanation.  She was disappointed.

"What is an old hippie?"  Questioned Miroku with a lecherous smile as he took the photo from Inuyasha.  "She doesn't look old in this picture."  Without warning Sango slammed the back of Miroku's head with the flat of her palm, gracefully retrieving the photo in question as it floated out of his grasp and handing it back to Kagome.

Kagome shifted a bit uncomfortably under their stares.  "Well I do not really know much about being a hippie, it was mainly an American thing and I only visited her once and did not speak English at the time since my father had actually tried to hide that he was half American since Japan still has a thing about being pure."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome a bit surprised about her last comment.  He had never thought about why her hair was not straight and solid black like Kikyo's hair had been.  He hated to admit it but he was curious about what her father had looked like.  Trying to feign disinterest Inuyasha looked away and asked, "so where is a picture of your grandpa."

Kagome's face faltered for just a second, but it was enough for Inuyasha to see and wish that someone else had asked the question.  "There aren't any pictures of my dad's father."  Kagome stated a bit hesitantly, wondering how much she wanted to tell them for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders and deciding to hold nothing back *they are my friends, they won't care about it too much* she thought silently.  "My dad never met his father.  You see my grandmother was one of the first hippies as well as one of the first hippies to preach and practice free love."  Kagome watched as each of her friends mouthed the words free love.  With a sigh she continued, "Free love meant that she would love everyone she came in contact with."  Kagome could tell that her friends did not see anything too wrong with the concept so she rushed on in a quieter tone so that they had to strain to hear her next words.  "Following the concept of free love she would also have sex willingly with any males or females that also practiced free love."  She finished in a whisper.  

She looked around at the slightly stunned group.  Even Miroku looked stunned though his eyes where shinning at the prospect.  Sango, noticing Miroku's lecherous smile began to glare at him, mentally bludgeoning him with her boomerang.  "Anyways," Kagome continued a bit nervously as she edged away from Miroku, "My dad grew in a hippie commune, where my grandmother had about a dozen dogs that she treated like children, knowing only his father's name.  He got obsessed with all things Japan and when he turned eighteen he left my grandmother and came to Japan where he met my mother.  I only visited my grandmother once when I was eight and Sota was four.  She said she liked me because I was at ease with her family even though my father had stressed that her dogs could be dangerous since she let them be half wild."  To emphasize her point, Kagome dug around in the photo box till she found a photo from her visit with her Grandmother.  

"Awe, how cute."  Every one spoke in unison (even Kirara seemed to meow it) as they crowded closer to the picture.  In the picture an eight year old Kagome was curled up asleep among a sea of dogs of all types.  Her head was resting on a Great Dane; a Yorkshire terrier was clutched to her chest like a doll while her top arm reached out and was draped over a medium sized yellow dog.  Kagome's feet where not visible since a dachshund and a small mop like dog where laying on them.  Leaning against Kagome's back was a great white Pyrenees, which seemed to be looking around like it was guarding her.

Looking at the picture now, it sort of reminded Kagome of how Kouga's pack used to live before most of them were killed by Naraku.

Inuyasha was having similar thoughts.  Though his thoughts traveled more along the way of how he wondered if that may have been the way he would have lived if he had lived with his father's pack instead of a human village.  To have always had others of the pack with you and never be alone had been Inuyasha's childhood dream.

Even Shippo was affected by the photo.  Looking at little Kagome snuggled up with all the dogs, reminded Shippo of when he would sleep between his parents and siblings.  Determined not to become melancholic over such a cute picture, Shippo broke the awed silence.  "You were sooo cute Kagome!"  Shippo exclaimed, while jumping onto Kagome's shoulder.  "Do you have any other pictures of you as a child?"

Kagome was having a lot of fun sharing her pictures with her friends.  They all were giving the photos their full attention, and Shippo seemed to be ready to explode from excitement.  Kagome showed them photos from family vacations as well as different festivals that her shrine had been called upon to perform certain rites.  Then she showed them a photo of her with her friends at her school.  Inuyasha barely contained a growl since it was obvious that one boy standing off to the side with a half smile was focusing on only Kagome.

Inuyasha briefly entertained the thought to say nothing since one of his greatest fears was Kagome leaving him for a normal boy in her time.  That thought was immediately squashed as Inuyasha reflexively did what he always did if something made him uncomfortable.  He attacked it head on.  "Who is that turd?"  He yelled out, pointing viciously at the picture.

Kagome was startled by Inuyasha's crude remark and instantly stopped naming her friends in the picture to glare at him, seriously annoyed that he was calling one of her schoolmates a "turd." 

Miroku just rolled his eyes at Inuyasha's lack of tack since he had spotted Hojo almost instantly as well. 

Looking at who he was pointing to, Kagome had to fight the faint blush that tried to creep up.  "That is just Hojo."  Kagome explained, trying to make her voice sound bored.

"Why is that turd staring at you?!"  Inuyasha persisted aggressively.  

Kagome was very uncomfortable now.  She always felt a little guilty about Hojo even though she never sought after his attention.  While Hojo did not move her romantically, Kagome felt he was too nice a guy to allow Inuyasha to continue to call him a turd.  Red in the face she turned to face Inuyasha fully, "You jerk!  Hojo is one of the nicest guys at our school."  *Though a bit dense* she added silently.  "He is just always concerned for my welfare since my grandfather makes up lies that I'm sick to explain my absences from school."

Sango calmly grabbed the box of photos and turned to leave the coming battle between Inuyasha and Kagome.  While she herself was fairly inexperienced in romance, Sango did know Inuyasha enough to know he was very jealous and the more he attacked Hojo the more Kagome's naturally protective personality would demand that she protect Hojo.  The more Kagome protected him the more jealous Inuyasha would become till a "sit" sound out followed by a "bitch."  Sighing at their stubbornness Sango went to sit where Miroku and Shippo where now waiting to continue looking at the photos without Kagome's narrations.  Finding a clear spot, Sango bent to sit, stopping just before she reached to grown to bat away Miroku's hand that had been waiting for her to sit on it.  Sometimes she would allow herself to pretend that Miroku tried to grope her so much more than Kagome because he actually liked her.  Somehow she had actually found herself liking the lecherous monk in spite of his vices.  But watching Inuyasha's jealous temper tantrum, she figured that it was just because he feared Inuyasha's jealous reaction if he groped Kagome too much.  Sango almost wished someone would get jealous over her.

"What other pictures are in the box?"  Shippo asked in excitement.  With great interest they continued to go through the photos.  

Miroku stopped and stared carefully at a picture of an older woman clutching some prayer beads.  For some reason the prayer beads reminded him of his which were an heirloom of his fathers.

"Oh how cute!!"  Shippo and Sango exclaimed in unison jerking Miroku from his thoughts.  "This must be Kagome when she was little."  Sango mused looking at the picture of a little girl about 3 or four years old, with a bob haircut and dirty knees hanging off a metal bar at a park smiling with glee at the camera.

"SIT"

"**BITCH"**

Kagome stormed over to her friends leaving a sulking Inuyasha behind.  Forcing a cheerful smile, Kagome asked lightly what they where looking at.

"Is this darling child you Kagome?" Miroku smoothly asked.  

Kagome smiled for real at the photo of her as a child.  She was a rough and tumble kid that always was always trying to climb something and falling down many times.  Remembering back, she was amazed she was not one big scar.

"Did you cut you face?"  Shippo innocently asked, pointing at a red stripe on the little Kagome's left cheek.

Kagome chuckled since her mother had mentioned that many people had asked the same thing.  "No Shippo, that is not a scratch or even a scar, that was my birthmark."  Seeing their confused faces as well as Inuyasha's curious face as he crept closer, Kagome decided to explain further.  "I was born with a strawberry birth mark.  They are not very common for Japanese, but my mom told me that they are common for my father's mother's race.  Anyways they usually fade early on like between 1 and 2 years old.  Mine had just barely started to fade when this picture was taken, but whenever I got angry or exerted myself it would get dark again."  

Off to the side, Inuyasha unconsciously rubbed his cheek.  He had inherited his stripes from his father but they only became apparent when he called upon his demon blood.  Looking up from his thoughts he noticed Kagome's own thoughtful look as she rubbed her left cheek in remembrance.  

"So when did your birthmark fade?" Sango asked curiously. 

"Well actually it faded and never returned shortly after this picture was taken."  Kagome frowned slightly at an unhappy memory.  Knowing that her friends would probably ask her anyways, Kagome decided to share the memory.  "In this picture I was 4½ and I was going to start school in a few months.  The evening after this picture was taken my family went to eat dinner at a fast food place."  Kagome paused expecting to hear either Shippo or Inuyasha ask if that was where the food moved real fast.  Inuyasha obliged her.  After a brief explanation Kagome continued her story.  "During dinner my father asked me if I wanted to get rid of my birthmark so that the other school kids would not tease me." 

 Inuyasha tensed at the thought of other kids teasing Kagome like they had teased him.  He knew how people seemed to like to pick on whoever was different.

"My mom had hugged me close and told me I was beautiful no mater what, but then my father started saying how my birthmark marked me out as different and all of the kids would pick me to pieces.  My dad then turned back to me and said he wanted to make an appointment for me to get it lasered off."

"What does lasered mean?"  Questioned the ever-curious Shippo.

Kagome went into teacher mode and tried to explain modern technology to people who thought her flashlight was magic when she was just barely passing science class.  "A laser is an extremely focused beam of light that can be used in many ways."

"You mean besides just to see with?"  Shippo asked.

"Shippo, do you remember when I brought that magnifying glass and we used it to focus the light and start a fire."  Kagome asked, gratified to see understanding in his eyes.

"Your father wanted to **burn your beautiful face to get rid of your birthmark?!" Miroku demanded in a quiet yet serious voice.**

 Sango's faced showed shock while Shippo looked at the picture of little Kagome with a mixture of horror and pity.  However, Inuyasha's reaction was the strongest.  His whole body seemed to be tensed for battle and he longed to sink his claws into whoever would dare to harm his Kagome.  "What type of fucking father wants to burn his daughter's face?  A damn scar is no better than a birth mark."

Kagome started to wave her hand frantically.  "Oh no no no no.  It wasn't that bad.  They can do it without scarring."  Sighing as her friends calmed a bit Kagome continued.  "But I did not know that at the time.  My only knowledge of lasers was from cartoons, er, stories where they are used to kill sometimes.  So when my dad said that he wanted to laser my birthmark I freaked and just started running for all that I was worth."  Kagome did not look up since she did not want to see her friends' looks of pity.  "I ran until I could go no more and then I just stopped and cried, wishing with all of my might that I would just be normal and fit in like my father wanted me to.  What made things worse was that the food from the restaurant was tainted and I got food poisoning."  Each member of the party winced at the thought of food poisoned since in the time before refrigerators it was not uncommon.  "I was terrified since I was tired and lost and my stomach was burning with so much pain I thought I would die.  I don't know how, but somehow my father found me like he always was able to."  Kagome smiled a bit at how she thought of her father as her personal hero.  "I had to spend a week in the hospital and when I came out my birthmark had faded."  Silence enveloped the group at the end of Kagome's story.  However before any thoughts could be voiced a familiar voice rang thru the air.

"Inuyasha!  I've been looking for you."  Myoga's voice rang out.  Everyone turned to see a veiled woman walking towards them with the flea demon on her shoulder.  Myoga leaped from her shoulders to land on Inuyasha's nose.  "I've brought someone who needs to talk to you."  He then proceeded to take a drink of Inuyasha's blood and was rewarded with a sound flattening.


	5. Chapter 4 Let the Fun Begin

Disclaimer:  While my yorky/schnauzer dog keeps insisting that he is the lord of the western lands, I still do not own Inuyasha.

AN:  For those waiting for me to update my other stories, I'm sorry but this chapter kept beating me in the head till I agreed to write it.  I know I promised citrus by this chapter but there is still no lemon or even lime.  I would say this chapter has orange.  Next chapter I plan to let my more perverted side take over though so it should be interesting.

Heritage

Chapter 4

Let the Fun Begin

"I've brought someone who needs to talk to you."

Everyone turned from the now squished Myoga to regard the veiled woman that had accompanied him.  She was petite even by that day's standard, standing a number of inches shorter than Kagome.  She was not a child for she moved with the grace of a lady.  By her rich kimono she was obviously well off and was most likely the daughter of the local lord.  Instantly Miroku was kneeling in front of her, gently holding her hand.  "My dear lady, I Miroku shall do whatever I can to ease your distress.  Please let us look upon your beautiful face so we may know who we are aiding."

"I may not."  The mysterious woman responded in a dulcet yet firm voice, extracting her hand from Miroku's grasp to press her veil down as if they would try to tear it from her face.  "It would attract my love here and I do not wish him to be harmed."

"Why do you fear that your love would be harmed if he came?"  Questioned Kagome.  

"Why would showing your face bring him here?"  Sango asked a bit suspicious that her presence was related to the demon they were hunting.

The lady gave a sigh suggesting great anguish.  "Let me tell you the whole tale and then you may understand."

Miroku had once again caught one of her fair hands.  "My dear lady, it sounds as if your tale will be long and the ground is much too hard for one as fair as your.  Please use my humble body as a cushion."  A loud "thwack" sounded out as Sango's boomerang hit Miroku's head.  

The lady seemed a bit unsure after witnessing Miroku and Sango's antics and seemed about to just leave.  Then her resolve seemed to strengthen as she straightened her spine.  "No, I have decided to deny myself most comforts in penance of the hardships I have caused most of the local woman."  Seeing that she had everyone's attention she began her tale.  "I am the youngest of 7 and the only daughter of the local lord.  Being the youngest and the only girl my parents doted on me and made sure I had whatever I desired.  When I was very young I asked to go with my father whenever he went to the surrounding towns for tribute or to pass his blessing for new buildings.  My father allowed this and because I was treated well by all the townsfolk, I became protective of them and made sure that they were always treated fairly and would always tell my father if one of my brothers used their station to mistreat someone."

"Is there a point to this sappy tale?"  Inuyasha huffed winning a glare from Kagome.

"Just ignore him."  Kagome muttered.  "Please continue."

The lady nodded and began to speak once more, wringing her hands within the sleeves of her kimono.  "My tattling on my brothers caused much friction between us and when my father threatened to disown my eldest brother due to the fact that I learned he had raped the girl that sewed my kimonos, my eldest brother decided to poison me."  While her face could not be seen, the sounds of soft crying could be heard.  "My brother's plan failed.  For you see a flea demon had happened by and thought I was too beautiful to be allowed to die.  He sucked the poison from by body saving me.  Fearful that my brother might try to kill me again, I asked him to stay with me and protect me.  He was gracious enough to agree and for many months he was forever with me and stopped a number of attacks upon my life.  During this time we fell in love and wished to be married."

Inuyasha interrupted her monologue with a very rude snort of disgust.

"Sit"

  After a pause the lady continued.  "My father forever willing to give me anything, agreed to the wedding.  However, trouble came when I wished to bear his child."

At this point Kagome's eyes slid from the mysterious woman to where Myoga was standing on Kirara's back, taking in the size difference.  Almost involuntarily her mind tried to picture what it would look like if a flea demon tried to couple with a normal human girl.  The resulting images where not pretty, even if he was able to balloon up like Myoga had when he had sucked a lot of blood.  *Gah!  I'm a worse pervert than Miroku.*  Kagome mentally chastised herself.  Then looking around at her friends, Kagome realized that she was not the only one trying to envision the plausibility, that is except for Shippo who was looking on with innocent acceptance of the story.

Not once looking up to notice the incredulous stares, the lady smoothly continued her story.  "We learned of the Shikon shards and how they could be used to increase a demon's strength and more importantly his size."  Inuyasha leaned in intently at the mention of the Shikon shards.  "After much searching, my love was able to acquire two shards and returned home with them.  The night of his return he used the shards and we where finally able to fully express our love for each other."

Once again Kagome's stomach turned as the thought of making love with a flea demon of all things violated her thoughts.  Glancing around she realized her friends where also suffering the same dilemma.  Firmly squelching any noises of her own disgust, Kagome threatened Inuyasha by mouthing "sit" to silence him, knowing that he would not have the tact to keep his own mouth shut.

"Somehow the shards changed my loves personality.  I did not notice at first, thinking that when we would finish and he would want to begin our love making again it was only because he loved me so.  Then I became tired and he became enraged.  I fled in fear.  It was then I learned how much the shards had changed him.  He began to lustily attack any female that exposed her more delicate parts."

With a snort Inuyasha looked at Miroku.  "Sounds like you Miroku."  

Miroku's face tightened, "I have never forced my attentions on anyone."  He stated coolly.

"Oh no, do not think badly of my love."  The lady asked plaintively.  "He has not raped anyone.  It is just when they try to bath or dress provocatively he leaps onto them and just fondles them and tries to convince them to bed with him."

"I guess he is like you Miroku" Sango commented dryly.

Ignoring Sango, Miroku questioned the lady.  "That still does not explain why you are wearing a veil."

"You see, when I lift my veil he seems to come as if called.  The few times I have lifted it, I have had to run for he is not in his right mind.  I dare not lift it here for I had come here to ask you not to kill him.  For he is the demon Happosai you have been seeking.  It is for love of me and fear of my father the villagers have endured his attacks and not aided your hunt.  Please, I beseech you.  Do not harm him."

Before Inuyasha could say anything about doing whatever it took to retrieve the shards Kagome cut in.  "All we want are the two shards he has.  We do not need to kill him."

Visually relieved, the veiled woman turned to leave.  "I still do not wish to betray my dear Happosai by luring him here.  Instead know that he frequents the numerous hot springs that honeycomb this area."  That said she turned and left.

Everything was quiet till a thought hit Kagome, *hot springs, that means a warm bath.*  Suddenly excited she whirled around to face Inuyasha.  "Inuyasha can you smell a hot spring nearby?"

Inuyasha brightened noticeably.  "Good idea.  We can start hunting the little pervert right away."  Slowly he turned in a circle, sniffing at the air for the slight sulfur smell that always accompanied natural hot springs.  

"Actually Inuyasha, I planned on taking a bath."  Kagome stared boldly into Inuyasha's eyes daring him to object.  Kagome grimaced as she took in his surprised and angry visage.  

However it was Miroku who spoke first.  "Are you sure that is wise Kagome."

Kagome knew she was being unreasonable, but it had been so long since her last warm bath and the temptation was too great.  "I will take my bow and arrows."  Seeing that her friends were still not convinced she continued.  "Sango could come as well.  I'm sure a mere flea demon, no offense Myoga, could stand before us."

Sango was now becoming tempted by the lure of a hot bath.  "I'm sure the demon Happosai is nowhere near or he would have already attacked Kagome due to how much flesh is already exposed by her outfit."  While Kagome was a bit miffed about Sango's comment regarding her clothing, Kagome kept her mouth shut, looking pleadingly at Inuyasha and Miroku.  But Inuyasha was looking particularly stubborn.

Shippo sighed at once again having to be the mature one.  "Why don't we camp near the hot spring tonight?  If there is no sign of the demon by morning than Kagome and Sango can take a bath."

Kagome realizing that a bath in the morning was better than no bath instantly turned her pleading eyes to Inuyasha.  "Pleeaase Inuyasha.  You would smell it if the demon was close so it would be perfectly safe besides Sango and I having our weapons close."

Inuyasha never could bear it when Kagome pleaded with him so with a huff he snarled out, "Fine.  We will move our camp closer to the hot spring.  Maybe your two will lure him out."

After a short move and an agonizingly long night Kagome was skipping towards a hot spring with Sango following behind.  It was not long after they disappeared from sight that Miroku began to follow.  "I don't think so."  Inuyasha flatly stated as he moved to block Miroku's path, Shippo moved to his side to also glare at Miroku.

"Miroku calmly stared back at Inuyasha.  "Do you not believe that they need looking after in case the temptation of their glistening bare flesh provides too much of a temptation for the flea youkai."

"Not by you."  Inuyasha growled.  They both were locked into a stand off neither willing to give in.

At the hot spring, Kagome and Sango, having neatly placed their clothing at the edge of the spring with their weapons on top, were just stepping into the inviting hot spring.  Kagome sighed as she just barely stepped into the hot spring, the warm water already soothing her tired feet.  "Sango, I am so glad you backed me up so we could take this bath."

Sango gave an insulted sniff as she too walked into the soothing waters.  "I am a woman too you know.  I enjoy a warm bath as much as the next woman."

Kagome was about to wave her arms in protest when something smacked her in the chest.  Looking down Kagome realized with horror that the face of a bald man who would stand about 3/4s her height had his face nuzzling between her breasts.  "AAAAAAH!!!!!!"  Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to no avail to pry her assailant off.  She barely looked up in time to see Sango's boomerang slicing down to nock him off.

However, the boomerang did not connect as the man somehow managed to push off from Kagome in time, twisting in the air to land face first into Sango's bosom.  There was a slight stunned pause before Sango screamed.

Inuyasha and Miroku had still been locked into a stare down when Kagome's scream had sounded out.  Instantly they began to run towards the hot spring, Shippo and Kirara fallowing close behind.  Then Sango's scream had torn through the air.  Never had Sango screamed in all the time they had traveled together.  Not once, even though they had fought against many terrifying demons.  The thought of something that would make her scream sent cold terror to their hearts.  

It was barely a heartbeat later when they broke from the trees and stopped stunned at the sight before them.  Terror was replaced with stunned shock.  In the clearing a completely nude Kagome and a completely nude Sango where manically attacking something that only appeared as a blur.  The moved as if completely unaware of their nudity, rage evident on their faces.  Kagome's arrows where flying almost at random in every direction as she fired with all her speed at the blur, only slowing to retrieve some of her arrows to fire again.  Sango's boomerang was no less active.  She would barely catch her boomerang before she would send it flying once again.  Every once in a while the blur would seem to come closer and Sango would hold on to her boomerang so she could swing wildly at it.

It was a wonder that Kagome and Sango had not killed each other with how wildly they where attacking.  It looked as if anyone who dared to enter the clearing would instantly be taken down by one of their wild weapons.  Then right after Sango's boomerang was thrown, the streak rocketed towards her unprotected chest.  Kagome whirled to shoot it but held her bow since if she shot and it moved, she would then shoot Sango in the chest.  Inuyasha and Miroku jerked from their stunned state with the horrible thought that they would not reach her in time.  However, disaster was averted when Kirara jumped over their heads and slammed into the side of the blur.

All watched in amazement as the blur turned into a small bald man who tumbled onto the ground for a few feet before standing up and crying, "You're mean!!"  Then he turned into a blur and disappeared into the forest.

For a few heartbeats there was complete stillness.  Then Kagome and Sango turned in unison yelling "Well what are you thinking?!  We can't let him escape."  With that said they moved as if to give chase but stopped as Miroku cleared his throat.

"Not that I mind the view…"  He broke off and stared meaningfully at their forgotten clothes.  

For a few seconds confusion showed on their faces.  Then as the realization that they were still completely nude, they both screamed calling Inuyasha, Miroku, and even Shippo perverts for looking as they belatedly tried to cover themselves, blushing clear to their navels (which was very apparent by their state of undress).  Inuyasha and Miroku made the deadly mistake of laughing at their reaction.

"**SIT"**

**WHACK**

After the guys had packed up their camp and the girls where dressed they began their chase.  Sango and Kagome where out for blood, much to Shippo's confusion, and insisted that they go as fast as they could.  However Happosai could move very quickly and had quite a lead, so the chase went long.  During the chase, Inuyasha would scout ahead tracking Happosai, doubling back occasionally to let the rest of the group know which way to go.  Miroku and Sango would alternate between riding on Kirara and running next to Kagome's bike when Kirara would shrink down to take a needed rest in Kagome's basket.  The whole time Shippo road on the back of Kagome's bike asking periodically if Kagome needed a rest.  

Inuyasha needed to be able to move quickly and lightly so as to be able to track the flea youkai.  Thus Kagome never asked to ride on his back and have him carry her bike.  Kagome was determined not to stop till they caught that demon.  All of her embarrassment was channeled into hatred towards that demon and in her rage she forgot that she had actually wanted to save Happosai not shred him into itty bitty pieces.  Luckily, many months of traveling in the Shinjuku period had toned Kagome so that the first few hours or bike riding went fairly easily.  However, while Kagome was in shape, she was not a marathon biker and after a few hours she had to focus on her anger to give her the energy necessary to continue.  Never had she pushed herself so hard, but when her emotions ran high, Kagome was not a rational person.  She managed to keep pedaling till late afternoon when her exhaust clouded eyes missed a rock and she went tumbling to the ground.

"Kagoomee  You need to stop."  Shippo whined in a very concerned voice.

"I have to agree with Shippo."  Miroku's calm voice stated.  "I do not believe we will catch the demon this way anyways."

At this moment Inuyasha returned from scouting ahead.  He didn't even glance at Kagome's prone form before stating flatly that he had lost the trail.

"See Kagome, it is not reasonable to try to catch the demon in a straight out chase."  Miroku continued.

"That's right!"  Shippo exclaimed, glad to see that Kagome looked like she was finally going to be reasonable.  "Besides, tonight Inuyasha will not be able to track the demon anyways."

"Tonight?"  Kagome questioned and then smacked herself on the forehead.  *Why am I always forgetting the new moon?*   With a grumpy sigh, Kagome shoved her bag off of her bike to signify that she was giving in and they could make camp here.

Sango, still vibrating with outrage over the morning's incident was trying to control her own anger to think clearly.  "We need a way to trap the demon." 

Shippo had been pondering this same thing throughout most of the chase and decided to share one of his ideas.  "You and Kagome could take another bath while we watched from a hiding spot and when the demon …"  Shippo trailed off, his survival instincts telling him that two very violent auras where descending upon him.  

What stood before Shippo was truly terrifying indeed.  Sango and Kagome stood before him with waves of crackling energy rolling off of them, emphasizing the unnaturally darken campground.  Their faces were hidden in the flickering shadows caused by their energy.  "**I THINK NOT!!"  They shouted in perfect unison causing poor Shippo to run for cover.**

"The idea has merit." 

 There was complete silence as Sango and Kagome mechanically turned to see who had dared.  There was Miroku with his back turned to them as he pulled out some teriyaki nori from Kagome's pack.  The temperature dropped so suddenly it was a wonder ice did not form.  Then, noticing the quiet chill, Miroku turned to regard the two frothing ladies.  He dropped the nori in shock as the temperature leaped from an icy chill to white hot rage.  But before they could rend Miroku to shreds a new voice broke in.

"It probably won't work anyways."  Inuyasha stated nonchalantly.  "After seeing them once he would not want to see them again."

Twin scrams of rage sounded before a "**SIT" and the hollow ****"WHACK" of Sango's boomerang echoed through the air.**

"Bitch!  I meant he would recognize you and therefore stay away so as not to get captured." screamed an outraged hanyou.  Miroku said nothing for he was currently laying unconscious on the ground and Shippo was cowering in some nearby bushes.

The camp settled into a pensive quiet as each member pondered how they were going to be able to catch the demon, or in some cases, torture him.  As it neared meal time Inuyasha stood to go and hunt before he lost his youkai senses.  Seeing this Kagome forced herself to stand up even though she was exhausted, picking up her bow and arrows and moving to fallow Inuyasha.

"What do you want?"  Barked Inuyasha still angry at the sit he did not deserve.

"I want to go with you."  Kagome spoke in a voice that allowed no arguments.

Except if you happen to be a surely hanyou.  "Why?  You will slow me down and I do not want to be out when the moon comes up."

Kagome pleaded with her eyes.  "I need to practice shooting smaller things that move fast.  I thought I could practice by shooting at small game you flushed out."

Inuyasha understood her need to practice.  She had not been able to land one blow on that stupid flea demon.  The thought of that flea touching what he considered his made him growl deep within his throat.

Kagome heard his growl and interpreted it as Inuyasha still refusing her.  "Please…"  She whined with tears in her eyes. "You must understand needing to conquer something that made a fool of you."  Kagome hoped that the tears mixed with a statement reminding Inuyasha of his own pride and competitive nature might do the trick.  If it didn't she was going to have to sit him till he agreed and she hated to do that but she was desperate for practice.

*Ugh.  Why the tears again?*  Inuyasha cursed.  Then making up his mind he turned his back to Kagome.  "Feh.  Get on.  You will make too much noise otherwise."

With a clap of glee Kagome leaped onto Inuyasha's back and held on as he moved thru the trees with surprising stealth for one carrying a girl with a bow on his back.  Inuyasha's smooth gait gently lulled Kagome into a semi asleep state where her eyes where open but her mind wandered freely as if in sleep.  It was times like these that Kagome looked with awe at all the untamed wildness and thought with some sadness that some much had had to be tamed for Japan's growing population.  It was not long before Inuyasha stopped just outside of a clearing and motioned for Kagome to get off.  Signing for her continued silence he disappeared into the forest again and Kagome assumed he was going to scare something into the clearing.

As she waited, Kagome readied an arrow and focused on the clearing anticipating that that was where Inuyasha was going to scare the game.  Just as she was getting antsy and felt the need to move for fear of falling asleep a rustle was heard to her left and a small brown rabbit and a medium sized gray bird came shooting out of the bush.  Kagome aimed for the bird and released her arrow.  As soon as she let the arrow loose she was sure it was not going to fly true so without following its flight she whipped out a second arrow and turned to focus on the rabbit.  Focusing all of her energies she told herself that it was not a rabbit but instead it was that perverted flea demon.  Every nerve in her body strummed with power as she aimed and fired.  *I WILL NOT MISS*  She screamed in her head.  Satisfaction flushed her system as the arrow, blazing with power, flew true to its destination.  Triumph was in her eyes for she could feel in her bones that this shot would hit home.  Then it hit.

There was a thunderous roar and then complete silence.  Kagome just stood still barely holding her bow in her nerveless hands.  Off to her left Inuyasha stood up from a bush, bits of leaves still in his hair, with a shocked expression.  Where the rabbit had once been there was now a scorched hole.  No sign of the rabbit had survived Kagome's 'practice.'

Horribly embarrassed Kagome desperately wanted to get away before Inuyasha could comment on her "great hunting."  With a huff she turned towards Inuyasha and gathered all of her pride before snapping out, "These animals are too slow to give me any practice.  I'm going back."  She then turned towards what she hoped was back to camp with her fists at her side and marched into the forest.

Inuyasha watched her disappear completely before breaking out in a barking laugh.  Never would he have thought that she would use a purity arrow on a defenseless rabbit.  *Sometimes she really has no sense.*  Still chuckling he went over to where her first arrow had pierced the wing of the bird he had scared.  He calmly killed the bird and was still chuckling as he followed Kagome's sent which was for once heading the right way.  

As he thought about it more he laughed harder till from a fair way ahead he heard Kagome yell out.  "Say one word and **you will be the bunny."  Inuyasha laughed so hard no sound would come out.**


End file.
